Harvard U. Receives $50 Million Gift

The Blavatnik Family Foundation donated $50 million to Harvard University to launch the development of a major initiative to support early-stage breakthrough therapies and cure of diseases, reports a recent article in the Harvard Gazette.

The gift will create the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator to identify new technologies and prepare them for commercial development and licensing, as well as the Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Program at HBS. This program will provide MBA students with life science entrepreneur experience through exposure to the work done through the Accelerator.

The Blavatnik Family Foundation is headed by Harvard Business School alum Len Blavatnik (MBA ’89). “By partnering with Harvard’s world-class biomedical research division, I am delighted to help accelerate the development of new therapies,” says Blavatnik. “Moreover, by increasing the collaborative efforts between Harvard Business School and Harvard’s scientific community, we will empower the next generation of life science entrepreneurs and provide a further catalyst for innovation and research development.”

The dean of HBS, Nitin Nohria adds, “By bringing together expertise and experience from across Harvard, the Accelerator and the HBS Fellows program will further enhance Harvard’s commitment to innovative research and entrepreneurship. With student interest in entrepreneurship at an all-time high and with the resources of the University’s Innovation Lab and HBS’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at the ready, we are well positioned to make the most of this generous gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation.”

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